Mandatory

West's Encyclopedia of American Law
COPYRIGHT 2005 The Gale Group, Inc.

MANDATORY

Peremptory; obligatory; required; that which must be subscribed to or obeyed.

Mandatory statutes are those that require, as opposed to permit, a particular course of action. Their language is characterized by such directive terms as "shall" as opposed to "may." A mandatory provision is one that must be observed, whereas a directory provision is optional.

An example of a mandatory provision is a law that provides that an election judge must endorse his or her initials on a ballot.

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mandatory

man·da·to·ry
/ ˈmandəˌtôrē/
•
adj.
required by law or rules; compulsory:
wearing helmets was made mandatory for cyclists. ∎
of or conveying a command:
he did not want the guidelines to be mandatory.•
n.
(pl. -ries)
variant spelling of mandatary.
DERIVATIVES:man·da·to·ri·ly
/ -ˌtôrəlē/ adv.

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